I really enjoy Fanatic as a character. When I first saw Sacrosanct Martyr I was certain that she would have several cards that delt her Radiant damage to fuel it similar to AZ. Unfortunately Divine Focus and Chastise do not cause Radiant damage and Embolden is at the end of the turn so it is too late (although those can help to keep zealous offense in play). Maybe being able to combo like that was just to easy or OP.
The other day a friend was playing Visionary for the first time and hit a TtE. He asked if it would be really good on anyone in particular and I asked to have it. At one point in the game I had Sacrosanct, Chastize, and Divine Focus out. I started doing 5 radiant damage to myself to keep DF in play and then 3 radiant to keep Chastise. Then I did 6 Radiant to myslef with Sacrosanct for a total 14 that I had taken for the turn and hit the boss for 15 damage as a result!
I didn't get to do this but I see the potential to playmore conservatively. Twist the DF cost to 3 radiant, the Chastize cost to 1 radiant, then deal 0 to yourself for the cost of Sacrosant and it could still do 5 damage to an enemy.
In the end Fanatic really loves Visionary, although honestly everybody loves Visionary on the team. The only team member I like to see more is Team Leader Tachyon and I love her so much I asked her to marry me. Of course she turned me down but I was pretty accepting since as a man I'm not exactly her type.
You're still paying life in order to deal damage. You're still taking damage from DF and Chastise. It's just not as much as if you also hurt yourself with SS martyr. I tend to think that SS Martyr is by far the worst card in Fanatic's deck, useful only in a few rare situations; mostly involving enemies with extremely high Damage Reduction.
Exorcism with Twist the Ether on deals 4 damage, and requires no hp sacrifice. Absolution is the same. Sacrificing such large amounts of HP for a few points of damage increase is not usually worth it. Twisting the Ether is still particularly good with Fanatic though, not just because of Exorcism, but also it can make Embolden and Chastise a lot more tempting to keep around. DF is great, but only if you have cards to keep belting out damage. Usually I keep it on only for 1 turn and then let it expire, sometimes I keep it on for 2, but I hardly ever have the cards to keep it going longer than that.
Yes your still doing yourself damage, but you are getting 2 for the price of one with that - Keeping both your cards in play that give effects /and/ doing 5 damage for no additional hurt to yourself. Its Fanatic, your best betwith her is to use your life like any other resource and use it plentiful - she burns hot and bright, but if doen right can do a lot in that time period
yes yes there are alternate ways awp :P I don't disagree! I think its best to play fast and loose with her HP and go to town. Its exciting and i love to do so :P
however you have the most fun is best, really. I guess I prefer to stay alive longer and maybe increase my chances of drawing a devestating blow like Final Retribution!
Yup! This was the point, its the two for one that you get out of it. In almost all cases I would play with taking the lower amounts of damage, it was just enough for one big well needed hit when it was needed that I played it the other way.
amusingly, so do i! But i like the discard every turn to do 2 pts of damage, thats usually how I am to play her, or just a ton of effects out at once. When I can, I love emboldening myself with Absolution in play, and doing 3 sources of damage is brutal when you have any kind of damage buffs out. But of course, you already know this AWP!
While I certainly think that Fanatic is a good choice to lean towards as the recipient of an attack if there is ever a tie between hero HP,I haven't really ever had much of an experience where I felt the need to actively attempt to play fast and loose with her HP. If anything, her HP recovery effects have been a massive boon to my group's playstye. I will say that her Prayer of Desperation card is a little disappointing. Unless her SoT discard/damage card is out, she usually needs to draw cards because her hand is full of Limiteds in play, Sacrosanct Martyrs, and Prayers of Desperation rather than because her hand is empty...
I played one game with Fanatic where my first 6 or 7 cards included Sacrosanct Martyr, Aegis of Resurrection, Wrathful Retribution, and a few Smite the Transgressors. I seem to recall I did pretty well in that game.
Hehe yeah, burning through the hps when you've got a Wrathful Retribution available seems to be a pretty good tactic. Even more so if you've got your Aegis out. And even more so if there's some kind of trash-retrieval effect available…
i play fast and loose - very fast and very loose - i throw down all the self damaging things i can, and take all the hits that are a choice. 90% of the time it works out. Once in a while i do more incapacitated abilities than not :P
I pretty much burn her HP up too. She has healing, can recover back to 10 when KO'd, and wrathful retribution is designed for low HP, so it seems like the way to play her. Plus it seems that's how the >G gang sees her anyway since they keep showing her getting blasted in all the art!
Yeah, if you have the Aegis you have a little more room to be risky, it's true.
Still, I usually don't find losing HP to be such a difficult feat to accomplish that I need to make use of SS Martyr. Usually I just volunteer to take damage if I'm tied at HP with another character who would also be a legitimate target for a villian attack. That seems to be all the sacrifice required to get in a really good Retribution.
Plus as I made a note of in my fanatic guide, you don't always get Wrathful Retribution. Burning through life seems a bit risky to me when only 1/40 cards makes really good use out of having low hp. Divine Focus when played at the right time can be just as deadly, and doesn't require a low hp Fanatic. It's also twice as likely to show up in a game.
I love Fanatic. Her backstory, cards, and deck characteristics are all interesting. I think the main flavor of her deck is she is a situational hero. Nearly all her cards are spectacular, but only at the right time. I can certainly see how players can get frustrated with her because the current situation might not call for the cards you have in hand. She's not like heroes with a "do 4 or 5 damage" one shot, which I would argue is always a nice card to have. However, I feel that she plays more game saving cards than the other heroes.
Something that comes up sometimes in games in which we use Fanatic...I think I've only ever played her twice or so (need to change that) - it's usually my partner who plays her, and as such I don't know the names (or effects) of her cards as well as I do those of most of the other heroes. Anyway, that card that lets her nuke herself for up to five (I think) damage and then hit something else for the same amount (is that Sacrosanct Martyr?). Say she hits herself for five damage but also has a buff in play (eg Galvanise), she can choose to hit herself for the maximum of five from the card but then get +1 from Legacy to bring it up to six, right? And then hit something else for six damage as a result? My partner seems to question this whenever it comes up and it seems straightforward to me but...
Since it is a separate instance of damage, it is Galvanized again. If you dealt five, it would be boosted to six by Galvanize. Then you would deal six (assuming you weren't hit by any other Radiant damage that turn) damage boosted again by one by Galvanize to another target, making it seven.
Really? But it says "deal another target the same amount of damage" (or whatever), the same as it does with (for example) Mr Fixer's Dual Crowbars. So surely if you hit yourself for five damage (buffed to six by Legacy), the target of your choice then takes an equal amount, so six as well? And also, what happens if Fanatic has some kind of damage soak in play (eg Counterpoint Bulwark from the Adept)? She hits herself for five, buffed to six by Legacy, nerfed back to five by the Adept, therefore she loses 5hp and therefore can only hit a target for five?
It would probably be good if I actually looked at the card but it's in the box all the way under my desk and I'm a lazy arse...
But i like the discard every turn to do 2 pts of damage, thats usually how I am to play her, or just a ton of effects out at once. When I can, I love emboldening myself with Absolution in play, and doing 3 sources of damage is brutal when you have any kind of damage buffs out. But of course, you already know this AWP!